One of the most empowering things we can do for ourselves is to KNOW our body: this includes our physical anatomy (what is where), our physiology (how everything works), and our own sexual response cycle (how we respond to touch and pleasure).
And for lots of reasons, this knowledge is not easy to come by for many of us. Maybe you’ve never looked at your own genital anatomy. This can bring up really big feelings, some of these are ours, some are cultural. If you are not yet ready to take a peek with your favorite hand-mirror, here are two of my favorite resources to help you better understand the anatomy of the vulva.
The Vulva Gallery: A celebration of vulva diversity by artist Hilde Atalanta. What I love about their work is that each vulva is reader/follower submitted, and thus based on real, diverse bodies. Do you see yourself in one of these lovely images?
The Vulva Gallery by Betty Dodson and Carlin Ross: Famed sex educator and her partner have created this gorgeous photography collection to celebrate the diversity of vulva.
OMG Yes: This is a wonderfully informative, interactive website that shows all sorts of ways to pleasure vulvas, featuring a huge diversity of women masturbating and self-pleasuring. Season 1 is all clit and external pleasure, while Season 2 is penetration. It’s explicit, sweet, and very informative.
